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Postgraduate Courses
St Vincent’s Hospital (SVH) offers a range of postgraduate specialty nurse opportunities that are recognised and respected worldwide.
SVH has a long history of innovation in nurse education and was one of the first institutions in New South Wales to offer post registration nurse education in specialty areas with the establishment of the Cardiothoracic (1963), Operating Room (1965), Intensive Care (1966) nursing programs.
The curriculum of the program has changed with the times to keep up with the dynamic technology and techniques in health care. SVH has responded to changes in nurse education and the professionalism within nursing by working with universities to develop curricula for the Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing, and more recently the Master of Clinical Nursing.
SVH continues its commitment to maintaining nursing programs, which pursue high standards of patient care, have a strong clinical focus and ensure theory and practice are integrated.
Currently SVH offers a range of postgraduate specialty nursing education options/opportunities to nurses wanting to specialise in perioperative or intensive care nursing. These can be undertaken concurrently or sequentially and articulate with the university programs.
Specialist Clinical Nursing Programs
Structured clinical programs are offered in the specialties of Intensive Care and Perioperative Nursing and are conducted over one (1) year.
These programs are designed to be undertaken in conjunction with a Graduate Certificate/Diploma/Masters relating to the specialty area, however they can also be undertaken prior to or post completing tertiary studies.
The clinical program offers:
- Structured clinical rotations
- Clinical study days
- Clinical assessments, including clinically focused learning packages
- Clinical Leadership/Management experience
- Education and clinical support.
Structured Clinical Rotations
Intensive Care Nursing Clinical Program students may gain clinical experience in the following areas: General Intensive Care Unit; Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit; Emergency Department; Anesthetics; Intensive Care Ambulance and Coronary Care.
Perioperative Students will gain clinical experience in the roles of anaesthetics, circulating, instrument and recovery room nursing. Surgical specialties include: Cardiac, ENT, General, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, Plastics, Thoracic, Trauma, Urology, Vascular and Gynecology & Obstetrics (at The Royal Hospital for Women). Programs may include rotations to relevant areas of other hospitals to meet specific clinical requirements.
Clinical Study Days
80 hours have been allocated as Study Days for clinically focused learning. Content of these Study Days is designed to complement the theoretical content of tertiary programs. Teaching and Learning strategies may include lectures and tutorials, clinical visits, literature appraisal, discussions, assessments, self-directed learning opportunities and presentations.
Clinical Assessments
Student progress throughout the Specialist Clinical Program will be assessed on an individual basis utilising a variety of assessment methods and tools. Assessments will include specialty clinical competencies; standardised learning contracts for clinical rotations, professional performance reviews, and written assessments such as clinical incident analyses, and a policy development project.
Clinical Leadership / Management
Following consultation with Nurse Managers, experience may be gained in leadership within the Perioperative/Intensive Care environment. During this rotation, which is facilitated with the Nurse Unit Managers, students are supernumerary.
Education and Clinical Support
Emphasis is placed on adult learning principles, which encourage individuals to take responsibility for personal and professional development. All clinical areas have Clinical Nurse Educators to provide guidance and support. The Nurse Educator’s responsibility lies in teaching participants effective learning strategies such as independent and/or self-directed learning. This type of learning contributes to personal and professional growth, promotes lifelong learning and enables the individual to pursue excellence in patient care.
A Certificate of Clinical Competence is awarded on successful completion of the Specialist Clinical Program.
The Clinical Program also attracts credit towards the Masters of Clinical Nursing at ACU.
Student Selection
The selection of St Vincent’s Specialty Clinical Nursing Program students is based on academic and employment suitability.
To be eligible for the Intensive Care Clinical Program, Registered Nurses must have a minimum of 6 months’ intensive care nursing experience (excluding New Graduate Program placements) by the course commencement date.
To be eligible for the Perioperative Clinical Program, Registered Nurses must have a minimum of 12 months' post registration medical/surgical nursing experience and a minimum of 6 months experience in perioperative nursing by the course commencement date.
All applicants are required to be employed within the relevant specialty area of St Vincent’s Hospital or St Vincent's Private Hospital and have a positive appraisal from their current/previous employer. As positions are limited nurses are encouraged to seek full time employment prior to applying to undertake the Specialty Nursing Clinical Program.
Employment is offered on a full time basis and rotating rosters will apply.
Employment conditions are in accordance with the NSW Nurses (State) Award.
Commencement Date
The Clinical Nursing Programs commence in late January/ early February, and will complete late January/ early February the following year.
Applications
SVH Closing Date: Early November of each year.
Applicants are required to complete an online application form.
Inquiries for specific specialty areas and to obtain information packages please contact:
Intensive Care Nurse Educators Ph. (02) 8382 2609
Deb Moss (
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Belinda Foster (
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Perioperative Nurse Educator Ph. (02) 8382 2653
Angela Hibberd (
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Margaret Butler (
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For general enquiries please contact the
Manager Nurse Education, Linda Gregory, ph. (02) 8382 2322
Specialty Practice Units
St Vincent’s Hospital offers 2 Specialty Practice Units in each of the specialties of Anaesthetic/Recovery Nursing, Intensive Care Nursing and Perioperative Nursing.
- Specialty Practice 1 (SP1): This unit aims to prepare students to provide holistic care in specialty practice. Students will examine and apply knowledge and skills for safe, competent person and family centred care relevant the chosen specialty. The unit focuses on enabling students to perform a comprehensive health assessment and prioritise, implement and evaluate appropriate nursing care.
- Specialty Practice 2 (SP2): This unit builds on and extends the knowledge and understanding acquired in previous units. The aim is to prepare students to develop further their skills in providing holistic care, including person and family - centred health promotion, in specialty practice. The focus of the unit is on enhancing skills to work within the collaborative team and on planning care for people and families experiencing complex health problems. The student’s ability to articulate the evidence base for clinical decisions will be facilitated. (Note: Specialty Practice 1 is a pre-requisite for Specialty Practice 2).
Both of these units are offered in face to face mode at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Perioperative SP 1 (semester 1) and Anaesthetics & Recovery SP1 and SP2 conducted over 5 study days per semester.
Perioperative SP 2 (semester 2) conducted over 12 weeks with lectures for 3 hours per week each Tuesday evening.
The Intensive Care SP1 and SP2 are run over a 12 weeks with lectures for 3 hours per week each Wednesday evening.
These specialty practice units attract credit for 2 units with the ACU Masters of Clinical Nursing. Students may complete Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing offered by ACU by undertaking 2 remaining online theory units.
The aim of the Graduate Certificate is to prepare graduate nurses who have the knowledge and experience to work as beginning Specialist Nurses in their chosen clinical specialty.
Successful completion of the Graduate Certificate allows students to continue further study at Diploma and Masters level.
Student Selection
To be eligible for the Specialty Practice units, Registered Nurses must have an undergraduate degree in nursing or equivalent qualification, eligibility for registration as a nurse in the relevant Australian state/territory, and access to a relevant nursing practice area.
Applicants who do not meet normal entry requirements for the Master of Clinical Nursing may seek approval for entry on an individual basis through consultation with university course coordinators.
Commencement Date
The Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing Courses (Anaesthetics & Recovery, Intensive Care Nursing and Perioperative Nursing) are offered on a part-time basis by both St. Vincent’s Hospital and ACU.
Specialty Practice units are conducted in line with the ACU Academic year.
Semester 1 commences in early February and runs over a 12 week semester with one week semester break after Easter each year.
Semester 2 commences late July/early August over 12 weeks with semester break late September each year.
Cost
The Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing is a fee-paying course.
Fees for the Specialty Practice units undertaken at SVH are $900 per unit.
Fees may be eligible for tax deduction.
Details of fees for ACU National online units are available from ACU.
Applications
Application for enrolment to the Specialty Practice Units closes in January each year. Applicants are required to complete an online application form.
Inquiries for specific specialty areas and to obtain an information package please contact:
Intensive Care Nurse Educators Ph. (02) 8382 2609
Deb Moss (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
)
Belinda Foster (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
)
Perioperative Nurse Educator Ph. (02) 8382 2653
Angela Hibberd (email)
Margaret Butler (email)
For general enquiries please contact the
Nurse Manager of Education, Linda Gregory, ph. (02) 8382 2322
Inquiries regarding the application process for the remaining online units of the Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing are available from the ACU website.
Scholarships
To financially assist students, St Vincent's Hospital Division of Nursing offers a defined number of scholarships in an endeavor to support RNs to undertake tertiary based Post Graduate study that relate to clinical specialties at St Vincent’s Hospital.
For further information, please contact the
Nurse Manager of Education, Linda Gregory, ph. (02) 8382 2322
Scholarships are also available through various other organisations, such as the NSW Department of Health,
NSW Nurses Association and Nurses’ and Midwifery Board.
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